Monday, May 21, 2012

Giverny - Monet's Garden

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Giverny is about an hour and a half bus ride north west of Paris.  The day we went was mostly a dark, cloudy, and rainy day.  The rain, however,  in no way affected the beauty of the gardens and the famous lily pond.  As I mentioned in a previous post, when I got to that lily pond, I could not take my eyes off the reflections....so influenced was I by seeing Monet's large paintings of the many moods and colors of that same pond.

Some of my photos of the pond look blurry...but that is because it was raining and hailing and blowing.....and cold.  I loved the way the rain made the reflections in the pond seem so much like impressionist paintings.  I was soaked through....my clothes were wet, my hair was wet...my hands were freezing....and I was ecstatically happy.....  The sun did come out a few times, which was good for the flowers in the garden, because they were getting beaten down by the rain and hail.

I took far too many photos to post them all....so I hope you enjoy these.........

This is the house where Monet lived with his second wife and their children.  As you can see, the sun was out at last.  The flower garden is in front of this house and his studio (a very large, open, light room), which is now the gift shop, is off to one side.  The pond is across the road.

These pictures are taken from the upstairs window of the house........



The next few photos show what you walk by, on the way to the pond.






                                    More of the garden in front of the house.

                   I love the wild disarray of the flowers in this picture.


















        The camera lens is all fogged up....  I love the effect.....

Grand Palais - Helmut Newton

Friday, May 18, 2012

Helmut Newton was one of the great fashion photographers. He passed away in 2004 at the age of 83.  He shot  for Paris Vogue, London Vogue and many other fashion magazines and for famous fashion designers for decades.    His work was very controversial due to it's provocative nature.  Lots of nudes, fantasy and S/M scenes but also a lot of humor.  He also did great portraiture, especially his celebrity photos.

The exhibit was at the Grand Palais.  Because it was a photography exhibit, there was strictly no photo taking allowed.  I did snap a few photos from inside the building, looking out at the patio cafe.

The Helmut Newton photos are from Google Images.  If you want to see more of his work, check out Google Images.....there are hundreds of them.  In order not to offend any of the readers of my blog, I chose not to post some of what I considered great photos.....of course some people, I'm sure, would not agree.






                               Helmut Newton  1920 - 2004





                               Paris at her.....feet.....

Palais Garnier, aka Opera Garnier

Wednesday, May 15, 2012

I went with the folks visiting from Portland on a tour of the Opera Garnier.  It is truly an opulent and amazing architectural wonder.  It was built during the period 1861 to 1875.   Napoleon III had a contest to choose the architect whose design he liked best for the opera house he wanted built for the Paris Opera.  The winner was Charles Garnier....but in truth, all of Paris and the world are the winners.  Thanks to our tour guide,  I learned so many details about his design and about his innovative methods.  It was really fascinating.  Unfortunately, Napoleon III was deposed in 1870 as a result of the Franco-Prussian war and never got to see the completion of his opera house.

And, of course, it is the famous setting for Gaston Leroux's novel The Phantom of the Opera.

Again, not all the pictures I took turned out well.  So some of these pictures are from Google Images and some from my camera.






The ceiling of the auditorium has a painting by Marc Chagall.  It was installed over the top of the original painted ceiling in the 1960's.  The original is still there, undamaged.  They built a structure over it, to protect it and applied the Chagall to the structure.  The Chagall is so beautiful.   I tried to get as many pictures of it as I could.  The massive chandelier weighs something like nine tons.

The first picture below is from Google, the others are mine.









                                       Another beautiful ceiling in another room.......






Here are the folks with whom I went on the tour......and me.....on the veranda of the opera.